The Right Clothes
Galatians 3:26 For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. 27 For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ.
The authority of being in Christ is not based on our natural identities but on our spiritual transformation and the new identity it gives us. Just as a policeman’s uniform gives them authority in public, when we ‘put on Christ,’ we are no longer just ordinary individuals; we are elevated to a position of authority and respect in the spiritual realm. This act of ‘putting on Christ’ is not just a change of clothes but a profound transformation that empowers us and inspires us to live based on our new identity. It will lead us to carry ourselves differently.
Our authority is based on our uniform, so to speak. If you aren’t putting on Christ, if you’re not living in the revelation of being in Him, you will not walk in the authority He gives you. When we truly grasp and internalize this truth about our authority and identity in Christ, it changes everything. It enlightens us about our true potential, fills us with hope, and guides our actions and decisions in a new and powerful way. I’ve known policemen personally who carried themselves differently when in uniform than they would out of it.
Due to memory lapse regarding putting on Christ and being in Christ, I’ve seen believers forfeit their authority that is rooted in the gospel. They’ve been deceived into thinking that a failure to push morality results in sin running rampant. So they use the law to invoke the importance of behaving right, claiming they are promoting sanctification in the believer. But that view is not true. The real power of sanctification for the believer resides in identity, not the moral demands of the law. Effective sanctification is rooted in being clothed with Him!
What would happen if believers knew that every choice and action made included dragging Jesus into it with them?
What if they could see themselves clothed in Christ before making decisions and taking action?
Do you think anything would change?
The answer to real freedom and real ruling and reigning in life is knowing who you are and “Who” you’ve been clothed with. A man doesn’t do sweaty, dirty labor in an expensive new suit. Scripture says we’ve been clothed with righteousness. By grace through faith, you are in Christ, and Christ lives in you! Christ Jesus is the very righteousness of God, and that is the righteousness we’ve been clothed with. If you’ve been born again, you have a brand new suit, and the more you know it, the less you will engage in “sweaty, dirty labor.” It’s time to realize where you are seated, why you are seated, and what works are really yours while resting in the finished work of another.
Ephesians 2:4 But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, 7 that in the ages to come He might show the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness toward us in Christ Jesus. 8 For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. 10 For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.
We are seated together in the heavenly places “in Christ Jesus.” That puts us above powers and principalities! Hebrews 10:12 tells us that Jesus, after he offered one sacrifice for sins forever, “Sat Down” at the right hand of God. Jesus finished the work!
God wants to show off the exceeding riches of His grace in His kindness towards us, “in Christ Jesus!” His kindness and love led us to a changed mind and practice of life.
When we understand that we were created “in Christ Jesus,” good works flow out. There are works that God foreordained for you specifically! Do you know what they are? You won’t begin to understand them until you experience what it means to be in Christ!
You do not even begin to imagine just how different you are from those of this world until you begin to believe the truth concerning your being in Christ and being transformed by the power of that reality.
God does not ask you to get your act together morally before approaching Him. He demands that you align your beliefs with the truth of the gospel and approach Him on the merits of Christ alone. In Christ, you are clothed with Christ, and that means you are clothed in righteousness. Christ is your right clothes!
